A group of law students at the University of North Carolina penned an open letter decrying the school’s “culture of bullying” after a student was doxxed for comments that were taken out of context. An Indian student was subsequently called a racist for refusing to condemn the out-of-context comments.
In a document obtained by The Daily Wire, law students at the University of North Carolina detailed how leftists have created a “culture of bullying” toward those who hold unfavorable political views. The letter claims that what the university would have once called “bullying” is now an acceptable form of activism, and those who were once the “victims” of bullying are now guilty of showcasing their “white fragility.”
“The subjects of bullying were once called victims. They now categorize them as suffering from an inability to understand or ‘white fragility,’” the letter reads. “Those who oppose being threatened, bullied, or shouted down are called ‘white supremacists,’ ‘white nationalists,’ ‘bigots,’ or ‘racists.’ By using these politically convenient terms, bullying those in disagreement somehow becomes morally justified.”
One of the authors of the document told The Daily Wire that there has always been hostility toward right-of-center views, though there was a noticeable increase following the Capitol riot on January 6. One law student took to Facebook to declare that using an American flag as a Zoom background was an example of “MAGA energy.”
“American flag hanging on your wall and centered in your Zoom background is big MAGA energy, and I appreciate my (white male) MAGA law school colleagues outing themselves so easily and visibly,” the post read.
The letter claims that the “bullying” tactics intensified after two students in a first-year law class had a disagreement about colonialism in North America. According to a transcript of the recorded conversation, “Student A” claimed that Europeans brutally colonized the west while “Student B” pointed out that brutal practices, conquest, and enslavement were commonplace before colonization.
In part of the conversation, Student B suggested that Student A — a black man — look at the ongoing colonization in Cameroon if Student A was looking to fight a modern-day battle of colonialism. Student A suggested that Student B was explicitly telling him to return to Africa. Those words were never uttered.
Student A: “Amazingly, Native people live here for 60,000 plus years with no problems, and in 600 years of colonialism the planet has been set on fire.”
Student B: “I don’t think it’s accurate to say that there were no problems. Conquest, enslavement of defeated tribes, human sacrifice, ritualized rape, etc. were all war tactics used in tribal warfare, from the Mayans to the Comanche. That does not excuse Spanish or English colonization, but in the name of academic honesty, thought it was worth mentioning.”
Student B: “The argument that there were ‘no problems’ prior to colonization is objectively incorrect.”
Student A: “No, your argument is that white people were entitled to do so.”
Student B: “My argument is that the claim that there were ‘no problems’ for centuries is factually wrong.”
Student A: “None of the problems resulting from white supremacy perhaps would have been more succinct. By problems, I mean environmental racism.”
Student B proceeded to explain how despite the brutality of European colonization, it eventually led to prosperity for many.
Student B: “It explains why you now live in privilege now that the lines have been drawn.”
Student A: “Oh I live in privilege? Tell me more about my privilege.”
Student B: “You are an American attending an elite law school in the 21st century. If you are looking for a good cause, you can always travel to Cameroon and fight the colonizers there.”
Student A: “Did you just tell me to go back to Africa?”
Student B: “I’m saying that people talk about colonization like we’re all culpable for great evil. My point is that if you want to fight colonization, there are actual civil wars occurring now between natives and colonizers, like in Cameroon.”
Following the tense interaction, the Black Law Student Association (BLSA) circulated a letter to the student body accusing Student B of suggesting “that a Black peer should return to Africa” and condemning Student B as a “racist.”
The letter also accused the professor who oversaw the colonialism argument of “emboldening” Student B to make “repulsive and derogatory” comments.
“Recently, there were multiple racist incidents that occurred within [first-year] classrooms that have yet to be publicly acknowledged and addressed by the UNC Law Administration,” the letter reads. “As a whole, the Class of 2023, upperclassmen, and many of our professors have been kept in the dark about the repulsive and derogatory comments that were aimed directly at a student of color.”
BLSA’s letter also condemned the university for failing to reprimand the professor.
“The administration has made it clear that its concern lies with protecting the possible tenure of the professor who emboldened a student to feel comfortable making numerous racist, bigoted, and harmful comments that disproportionately affected the students of color in our class.”
As tensions escalated among first-year law students, the law school student government co-president reviewed the transcript to decide whether offensive comments had been made. The first-year class co-president concluded that no student told any other student to “return to Africa.” This invalidated the claims made by the BLSA.
In a first-year law student messaging group obtained by The Daily Wire, a white student denounced the class co-president — a Indian man — as a racist and called for him to resign.
“So you’re racist,” the white student said.
In a Zoom call, another student said that the co-president wanted to be welcomed to the “white boys club.”
“My guy clearly wants to be welcomed into the ‘white boys’ club so of course, it makes him feel good.”
Another student insinuated that the minority co-president is not sufficiently minority because he holds power. The student proceeded to call for the co-president’s resignation.
“[I’m going] to have to accept this as your letter of resignation. You aren’t addressing us as your peers,” the student said in a messaging app. “Who do you think you are to declare that something a black person has experienced is or is not racism? With your resignation you can worry a little less about speaking with your foot in your mouth and a little more about the critical race reading you obviously haven’t done.”
The students who penned the letter said that the administration is aware of the ongoing harassment against Student B and the class co-president, but the administration has yet to respond. Students claim they are fearful that their comments may be taken out of context in the future and that their careers will be dismantled for it.
“The law school has been made aware of the bullying described above, yet has made no statement,” the student’s letter concludes. “We return to class every day worried that we may be next. What might we say that may be taken out of context? Could we lose our careers? Our futures?”
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.